Portuguese architect João Mendes Ribeiro has transformed a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/manifest-destiny-tiny-cabin-finds-a-home-between-san-franciscos-downtown-skyscrapers/" target="_blank">rustic barn</a> in Cortegaça into a sprawling modern home. Embracing the minimalism of the historic façade, the barn was converted into an airy sun-drenched residence. <a href="http://inhabitat.com/zaragozas-green-roofed-ronda-office-features-a-rolling-rainbow-facade/" target="_blank">Wooden louvers</a> and a built-in mezzanine maximize light and space, making the house open yet comfortable.

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João Mendes Ribeiro

The soaring ceiling of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/atelier-bardill-features-a-stamped-pattern-facade-and-circular-cut-courtyard/" target="_blank">original barn</a> was accentuated in the main living space. One wall of the living room was replaced with floor to ceiling glass doors, which connect the interior with the serene farm landscape outside.

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João Mendes Ribeiro

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/motats-aviation-display-hall-protects-historic-planes-the-environment/" target="_blank">Wooden louvers</a> line the glass, filtering in the sunlight, while providing a privacy screen between inside and out. The wood of the louvers is further accentuated with the unfinished exposed beams in the high ceilings.

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João Mendes Ribeiro

Ribeiro continued the minimalist theme by furnishing the living area with simple white and wood furniture. The woodgrain beams that make of the floor continue up the wall, meeting the ceiling, and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/the-hex-curtain-by-rael-san-fratello-makes-a-kinetic-light-show-out-of-your-window/" target="_blank">creating a pattern</a> that replaces any need for art or décor.

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João Mendes Ribeiro

At the other end of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/praksis-turns-19th-century-danish-barn-into-a-modern-cultural-center-in-the-country/" target="_blank">the barn</a>, a double floor mezzanine was built to partition the home into sleeping and eating areas.

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João Mendes Ribeiro

A wooden ladder reaches from the living room to the second floor, where a small office, bathroom and bedroom sit, also clad in wood. Beneath <a href="http://inhabitat.com/modelinas-new-coworking-office-maximizes-space-with-private-plywood-loft/" target="_blank">the mezzanine</a> is the kitchen and dining room, lined with a ceiling of the same rich wood as the floors and walls.

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João Mendes Ribeiro

The resulting home meshes modernity with the original layout of the barn, creating cozy sleeping areas while utilizing the double height of its <a href="http://inhabitat.com/historic-stone-mill-transformed-into-sprawling-home-in-scotland/" target="_blank">rustic past</a>.

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João Mendes Ribeiro

Portuguese architect João Mendes Ribeiro has transformed a rustic barn in Cortegaça into a sprawling modern home. Embracing the minimalism of the historic façade, the barn was converted into an airy sun-drenched residence. Wooden louvers and a built-in mezzanine maximize light and space, making the house open yet comfortable.